Parachute



Oct. 17, 1933. s. H. KNIGHT 1,931,160

PARACHUTE Filed Sept. 19, 1930 Patented Oct. 17, 1933 V In the standard type of parachute, a plane passed vertically through the inflated sail and including its centre .willvcut it in a curve the central portion of which isapproxiinately an -75 arc of a circle of large radius, but the end portions will become rapidly more sharply "curved toward the extremities of the curveformed'by this intersection. The eflort has been to extend the portion of the curve approaching a 1210 straight line toas great apart of the line described by the intersection of the sail by the vertical plane, and shorten the highly curved end portions of this line. Efforts have been made by departing widely from the accepted form or 15. parachute, to produce such a preponderance of flattened area of the sail, but the well known general constructionhowever has hitherto not been found to have been improved upon by these radical departures from it.

Another feature of the standard parachute that has been found objectionableis its ten- 'dency to oscillate, which is usually met by pro viding a vent at the central area. of the sail. This diminished the slowing up of the descent.

to pack so that it will open with rapidity and certainty. The removal from thepack and the opening out of the parachuteof standard construction have presented difficulties. The para- 30; chute sail has usually been strung out vertically by a pilot parachute and other means have been adopted, with greater or less success to remove part from the standard form in a position and arrangement where the rapid and prompt open- :0; ing of its sail was promoted, prevents oscilla-.

tion to a large extent, presents a very large areaof flatness of the sail and avoids the necessity of either a pilot parachute or a vent in the main parachute sail, though either'of these instru- ,i '$mentalities may be used. No departure from the the circular circumference ofv the sail is necessitated. g

V Figure 1 is a plan view of the upper face of the sail laid out flat'the position of the upper .portion of the load cords being indicated in dotted lines. Fig. 2 is a section on line 2-2 of Fig. 1. r

The characteristic features of my device are the vertical flns the arrangement of the points .of attachment of the additional load cords to surface of the sail will be made substantiallysail much diminished without diminishing the The standard parachute also has been difficult the "sail, and 'theverti'cal"air-retaining fln or' skirt' arou'nd the periph'ery of f the parachute. j

By the use of these devices, the total supporting flat, and theamountof fabric contained in the g9 supporting area of. the parachute. By reducing the fabric area of the 'sail'the parachute Jmay be stored in a much smaller container... The folding of the parachute is such that the peripheral edge is exposed immediately to the air, al-f lowing the sail to inflate extremely rapidly.

The sail 1 of the parachute is'fabricatedf' in any, suitable mannerto'form a flat disc. Load cords'2, are attachedto this disc at itsperiphery. The, additional load cords '3, 3,. are attached to the inne p rtions of the parachute sail 1..

and to the fins 5 and 6. The relative lengths of these cords 2 and ,3 are regulated to make them function to flatten the sail. t The, sail l1has at the periphery the down- 7 wardly extending skirt 4, that extends pref-- erably about the entire, sail 1. This skirt may be made of a strip of textile material that is at-v tached' to the periphery of'the sail. The load cords are attached tothe skirt." It will readily be seen that there is a'radially' directed air pres sure pressing outward the skirt 4 and tending to extend the sail laterallyand to flatten it. This radial pressure will tend to push the skirt radially outward, and tend tokeep it vertical 0 when the parachute is inflight. I attach to the lower side of thesail a seriesof stabilizing fins,

5 and ,6. These fins run circularly around'the central point of the sail and areplaced preferably at even distances apart. Baffles 7, 7 some: t times are placed radially to control any circular surge'ofthe air aroundthe'spaces between them. The baffles are of textile materialand preferably run-'radiallyL In most'cases these bafiles need not .be used. In practice; I provide these 'fins with holes, d, d, to permita portion of the air to pass them. The particular way the fins are attached to the sail is immaterial providing they are secured strongly to it. They may be made 100 t of textile fabric similar to the fin or skirt 4 and attached bysewing to the inside ofthe sail in their required positions. The additional load. cords 3, 3, are attached to these fins The particular construction above described lends itself 10,5

to'the strengthening of the-sail atits portion folded by accordian pleating it in both directions; H0

so; l

one or more circularly running fins extending The arrangements of the fins may be varied mediate between its periphery and its centre; a

skirt formed of textile material of substantially equal width throughout and of' substantially equal circumference at its top and bottom'and downward from thelower part of said sail. I

r the load r cords; therein referred to V2. The device as defined in claim 1 in combination with bafi'les running radially and secured to the circularly running fins.

3. The device asfdefined in claim 1 wherein are sewed t0 the skirt.

'4. A parachute having a sail and load cords extending from points on the periphery of the sail to the load, and comprising a series-of downwardly projecting fins sewed to the lower face of the sail, each fin being provided with seepage openings through it, and also comprising a series of additional load cords, extending 'from points on the sail between its periphery and itscenter, i

and secured to the fins. r y 1 5. The device as defined in claim 4 wherein the extendingfrom the periphery of the'sail to the load, the combination of a skirt formed'of textile material of substantially equal length throughout and of substantially equal circumfere'nceat its top and bottom, one or more circularly running fins'extending downward from the lower part ofsaid sail, and bafilesirunning radially and secured to. the circularlyrunning fins. V a 1 Q SAMUEL H KlSIIGHT.

additional load cords are secured to the fins near the lower edges thereof.

: 6. In a parachute having a sail and load cords' 

